Why do this activity?

This activity looks at some historic Olympic results and asks children to think about whether they could do something similar. It introduces ideas about measuring time and distances in standard units.

Possible approach

Talk to the class about the Olympic Games and their history both in modern and ancient times. Talk about the ideas of winning and competition. Get them to try the tasks themselves and look at ways of collecting the information about what they do.

Key questions

How far do you think that is? What might you use to measure it?
How long is that time? What might you use to measure it?
Can you jump that far/run that fast?

Possible extension

Children could move on to timing each other as they do different tasks and create their own sports competitions deciding on rules for winning.

Possible support

Some children will need a lot of help to measure lengths and times accurately. Using them in a real context can help them to understand the meanings of the numbers on the tapes and on the clock.